Antipsychotic Use in Seniors: An Analysis Focusing on Drug Claims, 2001 to 2007

Published on July 9, 2009 from the Canadian Institute of Health Information.

This publication looked at more than one million seniors on public drug programs in six provinces with the goal of identifying trends in the claims for antipsychotics in people age 65 or older. The provinces were Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Based on claims in these provinces, total drug program expenditures on antipsychotics were almost $17.6 million in 2006–2007, accounting for 2.0% of the total drug program expenditures in that year.

Antipsychotics were primarily developed for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but they are increasingly being used to treat the behavioural and psychological symptoms associated with dementia in seniors, such as delusion, aggression and agitation. These symptoms affect more than half of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia and can result in harm to both patients and their caregivers. There are two classes of antipsychotics: typical and atypical. Among these two classes, there has been a continued shift to the use of newer atypical agents.
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